Altered Fate
by GBJackson
Summary: What if Jon and Dany's last meeting before the attack on Kings Landing had gone a different way?
1. Chapter 1

_I neither own nor claim any rights to Game of Thrones..._

**ALTERED FATE  
****Chapter One**

**JON **

Jon Snow stalked down the corridor towards Daenerys' chambers. He was still deeply troubled by the fiery execution of Varys. The man was a traitor, but watching him burn to death without so much as a cry of pain was disturbing. But it was the tone in which Dany had spoken when ordering his death that bothered him the most. Since he had met her, there was always passion behind her words. But not then. She sounded cold. Empty. Lonely. Without hope. He had to talk to her. To reassure her that in spite of the dark place she was in, that there would again be light. But not if she went through with her plan to destroy King's Landing.

As he entered her chambers, Gray Worm turned to face him, clasping his hands behind his back. The expression on his face was one of distrust. The Queen said something to him in Valyrian, and the Unsullied left the room.

They looked at each other intently for a long moment, and then Daenerys broke the silence. "What did I say would happen if you told your sister?"

"I don't _want_ it," he responded without delay. "And that's what I told _him_."

"_She_ betrayed your trust," Daenerys countered. "She killed Varys as much as I did. This is a victory for her. But now she knows what happens when people hear the truth about you.

Jon looked away. He wished that he had never told her about his true heritage. In fact, he wished that he had never learned of it himself.

"Far more people in Westeros love you than love me," Dany said, her tone still displaying no emotion. "I don't _have_ love here. I only have fear."

Jon looked back at her, not sure what to say. He had to say _something._ Anything to bring some measure of hope back to the woman he had bent the knee to, out of both love and for the sake of the North. "I love you," he managed, though the words sounded hollow. "You will always be my queen," he added, hoping that reinforcement of his loyalty and devotion would add strength to his statement.

Daenerys stood and closed the distance between them, standing right in front of Jon, here eyes staring directly into his. "Is that all I am to you," she asked, with a tender smile on her face. "Your Queen," she inquired with a whisper, as she leaned in to kiss him.

Jon felt revulsion as her lips met his. Not because of what she had done, or what she was planning to do. But for the simple fact that she was his aunt. He had thought about this a lot, and the more he did, the more it turned his stomach. He knew that incest was common among Targaryans, but he had been raised as a Stark of the North, and in the North, it was an unacceptable practice.

He was about to pull away when a voice exploded in his head. _Love her!_

It was Bran's voice. Clear and unmistakable. _You must love her, or a disaster will befall her._

He felt undeniable truth behind those words. And it terrified him. In an instant id dawned on him that if felt unloved by him, even after just saying that he loved her, that it would be yet another betrayal. And the gods only knew what that might push her to do.

Dany pulled away and looked at Jon coldly. She was about to open her mouth to speak, but was silenced as his lips crushed against hers. His arms were around her and she melted into his embrace. She had felt dead a moment before, but now she felt more alive than ever. And after a few more moments, they were stripping each others clothes off and then proceeded to make love, right there on the floor.

When they were done, they lay there holding each other. And again, it was Dany who broke the silence.

"I don't want to be feared," she said, her voice quavering.

Jon reached over and stroked her cheek with the back of his knuckles.

"Then be merciful," he said, and immediately regretted it.

"Merciful," she said. "After what Cersei did? I tried to make peace with her, but she refused. She woke the dragon. She deserves fire and blood."

Jon nodded. They were both sitting up now. "She does."

Dany released some of her defensiveness, and Jon continued.

"But the people don't." He met her eyes directly. "If you go forward with your plan, innocent people are going to die. Men. Women. _And_ children."

Her eyes widened for a moment before she squeezed them shut against the memory of horrors she had seen. Children crucified on mile markers on the road to Mereen, their dead eyes staring with fear and agony. The charred remains of a little girl that Drogon had burned to death while hunting livestock. Her father had not blamed her, but that did not assuage his pain of loss. And there was nothing she could do to fix what had happened. Jon was right. If she took King's Landing with fire and blood, she would be responsible for the death of children. And only one sort of ruler reigned with that sort of blood on hus or her hands: a tyrant.

She sighed and opened her eyes again. "I cannot become the very thing I have sworn to destroy." Tears leaked from her eyes,

Jon reached over with both hands, wiping the tears away with his thumbs. "Then don't."

She placed her hands on his and smiled at him. Here, like this, with Jon, her rage was pushed back into the recesses of her mind. She no longer could blame him for telling those he thought of as family the truth. In all honesty, had their roles been reversed, she would not have kept those she loved in the dark. It was unfair to ask it of him.

Her smile melted away as another thought came to her. "Sansa is going to be a problem."

Jon blinked. "She doesn't have to be."

Dany's tone took on a cold edge. "She looked me in the eye and told me she would not bend the knee."

Jon thought for a moment and then smiled.

The expression on his face piqued the Queen's curiosity. "What is it?"

"I just remembered a conversation I had with Tyrion shortly after Theon Greyjoy arrived on Dragonstone," he said. "He explained the nature of the Ironborn alliance with you. You granted the Iron Islands independence on the condition that they acknowledge you as the rightful Queen of the Seven Kingdoms."

Dany saw where he was going. "Yes, but they bent the knee."

Jon nodded. "Yes, but they knew that once you took the throne, you would honor your agreement. They knew that would not be dominated."

"The North is not just a tiny collection of islands, though." She said, standing up and gathering her clothes. "It makes up a very large part of the Crown's territory."

"With exactly what on it," He asked.

Daenerys looked at him with a raised eyebrow.

"There aren't even proper towns in the north," he continued. "Just a scattering of holdfasts serving as centerpoints for common people just trying to live their lives apart from all the chaos to the south."

Dany shook her head as Jon began putting his own clothes back on. "The Vale is loyal to Sansa, and from what I am told, their fighting men decimated Ramsey Bolton's army. I would be a fool to leave such a powerful fighting force in the hands of a foreign power."

Jon stared at her for a long moment as he struggled with himself. "Very well," he said with a sigh. "I will give you the solution to this problem. I will embrace my Targaryan herritage and return to my role as King in the North. The _independent_ north."

Dany frowned. "I came to rule seven kingdoms," she said coldly. "Not six."

"What is the alternative," he asled. "You defeat Cersei, take Kings Landing, and then march on the North? How many will die as a result?"

"No-one in the North need die," she said. "Let the lords and ladies bend the knee, and I will harbor no ill will towards any of them."

Jon laughed. "That's your problem right there," he said, meeting her eyes again.

"What do you mean," she asked.

"You talk about how nobody loves you this side of the narrow sea," he said, shaking his head.  
In Essos, how many of those who became your subjects were made to bend the knee?"

Her eyes widened with realization. "None," she said.

"Right," he said. "Missande told me once that if she asked to leave your service and return home, that you would let her without question. And Tyrion told me that the first thing you did with the Unsullied, after having them kill the masters, was to give them the freedom to choose between fighting for you as free men, and going their own way as free men."

Dany looked away. Her nephew was making too much sense for her comfort.

"You have given everyone else a choice," he continued, "but after crossing the Narrow Sea, all anyone hears from you is 'Bend the knee or else.'"

"What am I supposed to do," she demanded. "Let the lords and ladies of Westeros run roughshod over me?"

"No," Jon said. "But you don't need to run roughshod over them, either."

"I'm the queen," she said. "They need to know it."

He smiled at her, "As if you sitting on the Iron Throne wearing the Dragon Crown, with a real live dragon flying over the Red Keep won't tell them that?"

She couldn't help but smile as well.

"Look, Dany," Jon said. "These lords and ladies of Westeros, especially those in the North are a stubborn lot. The more you throw your weight around with them, the more they will dig in and resist. If you rain down fire upon them, or put them to death, the only message you will send to the rest of the realm is that you are yet another tyrant who needs to be removed from the throne."

That made her very uncomfortable. But she was thinking clearer now than she had been since leaving Winterfell. "Drogon is all I have left," she said. "The Night King killed Vyserion. Euron killed Rhaegal. If the houses of Westeros were to rise in rebellion, Drogon may turn many of their armies to ash, but every day the war would rage would give the rest a chance to produce scorpions of their own, and all they will need is one good shot. Then all of my children would be dead."

They had both finished dressing. And were standing in silence, facing each other.

"I need to get to the trone room," Dany said at last. "The war council is meeting to plan the attack on King's Landing. I want you to join me."


	2. Chapter 2

_I neither own nor claim any rights to Game of Thrones..._

**ALTERED FATE  
****Chapter Two**

**TYRION**

Tyrion Lannister entered the throne room of Dragonstone, hoping to have a word in private with Queen Daenerys before the others arrived for the war council. But that was not to be. As he entered the, he found Daenerys sitting on the throne with her nephew standing beside her. There was life in her eyes again, and he knew that Jon was somehow responsible. He was never one for praying, to the old gods or the new. But since he watched her order Varys burned alive for his act of treason, without the slightest hint of passion, he _had_ prayed to the old gods and the new that somehow, the good and beautiful Queen Daenerys would find her way back to them. _Maybe the gods _do_ answer prayer,_ he thought.

"Tyrion, good," Daenerys said with a slight smile. "You're early."

Tyrion bowed his head respectfully. "Your Grace."

"Jon and I have been discussing the North issue," she said. "He plans to embrace his true name and return to his role as King in the North on the condition that I grant the north its independence. What do you think?"

Tyrion's eyes had gone wide with surprise, and he very nearly laughed out loud, which did not go un-noticed by either the Queen or Jon.

Jon crossed his arms and frowned. "What's so funny?"

Tyrion regained his composure. "Not _funny,_ your Grace," he said. "it's a brilliant idea that can solve all of our problems. A Targaryan with Stark blood ruling the north in peace and justice? A true-born Targaryan Queen ruling the rest of the realm, also in peace and justice. It's a prospect that should make anyone laugh with joy."

Jon relaxed, and Dany smiled. Footsteps echoed from outside the throne room.

"We shall continue this discussion later," the queen said, as Grey Worm entered the room.

The Unsullied leader gave a readiness report of the fighting forces, and Queen Daenerys thanked him. They then proceeded to discuss the impending attack, which would happen at mid-morning the following day. "I shall dive down upon the Iron Fleet with the sun at my back. By the time they see me, it will be too late. I shall rain fire down upon Euron Greyjoy and his ships, leaving them to burn upon the water. And then I shall turn my attention to the city."

As she was speaking, her expression turned unreadable and her voice had almost the same unemotional tone. Almost. Maybe there was hope, still. "The people who live there," he said. "They're not your enemies. They're innocents like the ones you liberated in Meereen."

"In Meereen," Daenerys responded, "The slaves turned on the masters and liberated the city themselves the moment I arrived."

"They're afraid," Tyrion explained. "Anyone who resists Cersei will see his family butchered." he shook his head. "You can't expect them to be heroes. They're hostages"

"They are," she agreed, her expression still unreadable. "In a tyrant's grip, whose fault is that? Mine?"

He was about to open his mouth to retort, but Jon beat him to it.

"What does it matter whose fault it is," he said, his voice calm and caring. "Thousands of children will die if the city burns."

Daenerys sighed, turning her attention to Jon. "Cersei means to turn our mercy into a weakness. She thinks that having thousands of innocents in and around the Red Keep will stop me from coming for her."

Tyrion stepped forward. "Cersei's followers will abandon her if they know the war is lost. Give them that chance."

Dany looked from Tyrion and then to Jon, who nodded gentyly. "I don't want to kill innocent people. But I remember a conversation I had with Ser Jorah and Ser Barristan back in Astapor. They made it clear that there is no war in which the innocent are untouched. It doesn't matter how much I try to avoid it, innocent people will die."

"So people are going to die anyway, so you may as well just go ahead and kill them," Jon asked, incredulously.

"If the city surrenders, they will ring the bells and raise the gates," Tyrion offered. "Please, if you hear them ringing the bells, call off the attack."

Daenerys leaned forward. "So you would have me give your sister time to escape?"

Tyrion shook his head. "I would ask you to give the people time to get out of the way. If the city surrenders, then even the Lannister soldiers will help evacuate the people."

Grey Worm had been silent up to this point. "The Lannister soldiers are free men. They chose to fight for their Queen. They must die."

Tyrion rolled his eyes as he turned to face the Unsullied leader. "That is the choice our Queen gave you and your men. But that is not how it works here. Most soldiers are pressed into service. They go where they are told and do what they are told. If they do not, then it isn't just them who suffer. Under my sister, their families suffer with them" he turned his attention back to the Queen. "As I said. They're all afraid."

"Very well," Daenerys said. "If the city surrenders as you are so confident that it will, I will stand down. But I promise you that any treachery from the people after that will be met with fire and blood."

It wasn't the best answer, but it at least was fair.

Daenerys turned her attention to Gray Worm. "Ready the Unsullied. Tomorrow they join the Northern Armies. Wait at the city gates. You will know when it is time."

Grey Worm bowed his head and turned to leave.

"Lord Tyrion," Daenerys said as her hand also turned to leave. "It may interest you to know that we caught your brother trying to cross our lines."

Tyrion swore under his breath. _One-handed fool,_ he thought.

"Apparently he's still dedicated to your sister," she said.

"What is to be done with him," he asked.

Dany shook her head. "I had thought to make an example of him. He was supposed to remain in the North, and stay out of the battle. And yet at the first opportunity, he rides south, not to join our ranks, but to bypass them to get back to your sister."

Tyrion shook his head. "It doesn't surprise me. Whenever he's been separated from her, he's always done whatever he's had to do to get back to her. He's stupid that way."

Dany smiled coldly as she stood. "Yes. He _is_ stupid. And it will cost him. I cannot excuse treachery."

"Your Grace," said Jon.

Daenerys turned to face him.

"Begging your pardon, but he technically has not betrayed you." he said.

The queen scowled. "Would you care to explain how attempting to return to the side of my enemy isn't treachery?"

Jon licked his lips. "He came to Winterfell not to join your war effort against his sister, but to honor his pledge to fight for the living against the Dead. The dead have been defeated, his pledge has been honored, and therefore he has no further obligation to us."

That cold smile was back on Dany's face as she turned back to Tyrion. "So I should go ahead and have him executed. His sentence was delayed so that he could help us against the dead. The people of King's Landing are not my enemies, as you say, and I will give them every opportunity to get out of the way. I'll even extend that allowance to any Lannister soldier who lays down his weapon, should the city surrender. But for your sister, and anyone who willingly sides with her, there can be no mercy. By attempting to return to Cersei, your brother has chosen the wrong side." She shook her head. "I can't overlook that."

Tyrion sighed. "No, you can't. But you don't have to execute him."

Dany narrowed her eyes. "And what would you suggest I do? Leave him to rot in a cell for the rest of his life?"

"Let him go." Tyrion said with an expression on his face that suggested that he had just come up with a clever idea.

Daenerys' face, however, took on an expression of total incredulity. She was about to protest when Jon spoke up. "What are you thinking?"

Tyrian held up his hands in a pacifying gesture towards his Queen. "Cersei is with child," he said. "My brother's child. Can we at least agree that this unborn child is innocent?"

Daenerys frowned. "My unborn child was innocent. He still paid the price for my terrible judgment."

"So, therefore," said Tyroin, "another person's unborn child must also pay the price for its mother's terrible judgment?"

Daenerys' eyes widened, as if she had just witnessed something horrible, but then her expression softened. "No," she said.

Tyrion stepped forward. "Then what I propose is that we hold Cersei until she gives birth. I understand that she must pay the price for her crimes. I understand what that means. She is still my sister, and in spite of all the hateful things she has done to me, I do not really wish to see her dead." He swallowed hard and then continued. "But what must be must be. After she gives birth and the child can survive away from her, Jaime can raise it. He wouldn't be the first Lannister father to raise a child without its mother."

Daenerys seemed thoughtful as she considered Tyrion's words. "That would be reasonable," she said. "Though I don't like the idea of leaving that woman alive any longer than necessary, I will not take an innocent life, if I can avoid it."

Jon cleared his throat. "Are you sure she is really pregnant? Could she be lying just to play on people's sympathy?"

Tyrion considered the question. "I suppose it's possible," he said. "I know that she knew I was right when I attempted to encourage her to think of her child before she committed to this battle to come. And yet she order sweet Missandei's death anyway. Cersei has loved every one of her children above all else. Nothing else about her has changed, so why would that?"

Jon nodded. "So we hold her for what, nine months, to be sure?"

Tyrion shook his head. "We'll have a real Maester examine her. Qyburn has his nose so far up her ass as it is that I wouldn't trust a word he says. If she's lying, then all of this is a moot point, and it's yet another thing to add to her list of deceptions."

"And if she is telling the truth," Dany said, "We will hold her and keep her alive and healthy until the baby is born and mature enough to live without her. And then she will die, Jaime Lannister will be given a full pardon and will be named Lord of Casterly Rock and Warden of the West. He will be free to raise his son or daughter and live the remainder of his days in peace as the man of honor you and Brienne of Tarth believe him to be."

Tyrion bowed. "Thank you, Your Grace,"

After that, the meeting was concluded,


	3. Chapter 3

_I neither own nor claim any rights to Game of Thrones..._

**ALTERED FATE  
****Chapter Three**

**DAENERYS**

Everything went according to plan.

The sun was high in the sky, and while there was cloud cover, it was not so heavy that it obscured the sun. Daenerys had consulted a book she had found in Dragonstone's archives that was written by a Maester from the time when Harrenhal was attacked. It actually had gone into complex details about the aerial strategy employed, which included charts and diagrams of dive angles, and conveniently included the Maester's theories on how such tactics might be improved by lining up the angle of attack relative to the position of the sun. That Maester probably had no idea how useful his writings would one day prove to be.

Euron's fleet was exactly where she had expected it to be. Just off King's Landing and facing East towards Dragonstone, where they knew the attack would be coming from. But as cunning as Euron was, he was still a man who thought of warfare on a more-or-less horizontal line. So when Dany had begun her dive, she was coming in at an angle much more steep than she had used in the past. And with the sun at her back, Euron didn't see her until it was too late. Using this element of surprise allowed her to deal massive damage to several ships.

She watched in amusement as the ships began turning to face the opposite direction. The scorpions could turn left and right only so far, and she had overshot the fleet so quickly that the few shots they had managed to get off were lacking accuracy. Before they could turn far enough to bring the Scorpions fully in range again, she swung around and attacked again. The ferocity of her attack again catching the ones operating the scorpions off guard. More ships were set ablaze.

She could see Euron gesturing wildly at his men and then freeze as he saw her coming right at them. She grinned at him coldly, and then with passion and purpose, gave the command. "Dracarys!"

When the fire had cleared the bow of the ship was gone, and there was no sign of Euron. She could not tell if he had been consumed by dragonfire, or had managed to jump free at the last moment. Either way, his piece had been removed from this board. The next pass she made came completely from behind the remaining ships, and she kept her flight as erratic as possible to make it next to impossible for anyone who might be able to get her in their crosshairs to do so. When she was done, the fleet was burning on the water.

She now turned her attention to the city itself... Or rather, the scorpions mounted on its walls. They were unmanned. Apparently, Cersei had placed too much faith in Euron's ability to take Drogon out of the sky, as he had done so efficiently with Rhaegal. But Daenerys had not expected the Iron Fleet to be hiding on the other side of Dragonstone. Intelligence provided by Varys had suggested that it was still off King's Landing. And she had been so joyous at seeing Rhaegal recovered from his wounds sustained when he had tangled with his undead brother, that her thoughts were not on a potential ambush. She had no such distractions today, and Euron was made to know exactly what a dragon with a fully-focused rider could do.

She obliterated the unmanned Scorpions, came around and then flew straught over the city towards the main gate

O O O

There was a heavy contingent of Lannister soldiers that were waiting to open the gate and charge out if the Golden Company failed to hold off the Unsullied and Dothraki forces. They had no idea what had just happened to the Iron Fleet, and so they had no idea what was flying to meet them from behind.

There were scorpions on either side of the gate. Dany had to make sure that none of these Lannister soldiers could reach them. As soon as she could she had Drogon rain fire down upon them in full force. Things on the street exploded and she drew the fiery destruction straight through the soldiers and against the gates. The force of the fire was so great that the wall itself was breached. And the fire continued right into the Golden Company.

And then the Unsullied, Dothraki and Northern forces charged.

Between a dragon raining death from above, and the charge of three armies, the Golden Company, whose reputation as great a fighting force in Essos as the Dothraki and the Unsullied, failed to live up to that reputation. They were not _in_ Essos now, and they were facing both the Dothraki and Unsullied, who were loyal to Daenerys. Many great stories about the Golden Company had been told. But the final chapter in what was to be their greatest story had just been written, with fire as the pen and blood as the ink.

As the ground assault on King's Landing ensued, Dany turned back to the scorpions on the city walls. _Why are they _all_ unmanned,_ she thought. Surely even Cersei could not be this overconfident. Something felt terribly wrong. Again, she felt an overwhelming urge to just blast the Red Keep from existence, no matter how many innocent people had to die in the process. But she had given her word, and she would not break it. But she would not move forward with a blind eye to any possible threats.

After the last Scorpion was destroyed, she landed Drogon on an undamaged section of the wall, overlooking a throng of frightened people who had not made it to safety. And in the distance, she saw her armies and a large force of Lannister soldiers facing each other in a stand-off.

And then she heard the cries of the people, first isolated and scattered and then almost becoming a chorus. "Ring the bells!"

It was the most tense moment of this engagement. Waiting. Time seeming to slow down. And then just as the tension was ready to snap, the bells began to ring, and Dany breathed a sigh of relief. In the distance she could see the Lannister soldiers laying down their weapons.

She looked again to the Red Keep as the bells continued to ring. She knew Cersei was in there, and was probably watching her with as much hatred as she felt for the usurper queen. And again the near-overwhelming urge to unleash fire, death and destruction rose in her mind, fueled by all the loss and pain and betrayal she had endured since arriving on these accursed shores she had so longed to reach. But then she thought of Jon. Her nephew who while having a more solid claim to the Iron Throne for being the legitimate son of its rightful heir, had made every effort to convince her that he had no desire to rule the Seven Kingdoms. Before he had left Dragonstone early that morning they had spoken briefly again about the North. "Let the North become independent, and I will rule it as both a Stark and a Targaryan. One kingdom is more than enough for me." She trusted him. In word and deed he had proven his love for her. Not for the dragon queen. But for her. If there was anything to giver her hope and a love for life again, it was that.

She force herself to look away from the Red Keep, and into the eyes of the people staring up at her in fear of what she might do to them. And then a child stepped forward, her eyes locked on Drogon with wonder. The little girl then looked directly into Dany's eyes as she curtsied with a smile. Something amazing exploded within Dany's soul. Jon and Tyrion were right. Mercy was the answer. Not to a generstion to come, but to _this_ generation. She smiled warmly at the little girl who was still holding her curtsey. The people saw this and began to kneel. A chant began to rise from them, low at first but gaining volume and spreading:

"Stormborn! Stormborn! Stormborn! Stormborn! Stormborn! Stormborn! Stormborn! Stormborn!"

It was a chant born of fearful respect more than love. But it was a start.


	4. Chapter 4

_I neither own nor claim any rights to Game of Thrones..._

**ALTERED FATE  
****Chapter Four**

**ARYA**

She and the Hound had managed to get into the gates before they were sealed, and the inner streets were packed so tightly with people that they could barely move. _This is ridiculous,_ she thought. _Cersei brings everyone inside the inner walls so they can be safe, but we're all exposed to the sky anyway. _

Even over the loud din of the people, she could clearly here Clegane's string of profanities that served as a preamble to his actual thought. "We're all bloody meat shields in here."

Arya couldn't help but agree. _She _wants_ Daenerys to have to go through innocent people to get to her. She's betting that it will stop the attack._ She had heard about how careful Daenerys Targaryan had been to avoid killing innocent people in her conquests across the Narrow Sea. Everyone she had listened to had said that she was a benevolent and just queen who loved, and was loved by her people. But after the battle of the Long Night, and she had lost Jorah Mormont, something at the core of the Silver Queen had changed. _I know a killer when I see one. She'll burn this city to the ground if she has to, if that is what it takes to remove Cersei from the Iron Throne._ And Arya could not really blame her. She had also heard the stories of the other horrible losses she had suffered since leaving Winterfell

When the attack started, Arya was surprised that the dragon fire that rained down only found scorpions as targets. And it wasn't long before the bells started ringing, signaling surrender. And there was no more fire from the sky afterwards. Had she been wrong? Had the Dragon Queen managed to hold onto mercy in spite of all that had happened? She needed to find out. But first, she would need to get into the Red Keep itself and kill Cersei.

They pressed into the crowd, trying to make their way towards the entrance to the keep itself, with the intent of working their way along side streets to where service entrances to the sewers could be found. Before her father had been executed, she had explored the sewers and the catacombs while chasing cats as part of her training. It seemed like a lifetime ago, but she could walk those tunnels blindfolded if need be.

**JAIME**

On the eve before the battle, Tyrion had come to visit him inside the tent where he was being held, and Jon Snow had come with him.

"_So we meet again, bastard," The Kingslayer said. "Bent the knee to the Targaryan bitch, I see."_

_Jon had taken a step forward, his hand resting on Longclaw's hilt as he stared coldly into Jaime's equally cold eyes._

_Jaime eyed the sword at Jon's hip and smiled. "Go ahead and do it, bastard. We both know it's the only way you can best me, like this, with me in chains."_

_Tyrion put himself between his brother and Jon. "Just for once, can you keep your bloody mouth shut," he said. "There's a way out of here for you, and we've come to explain it to you. But if you keep flinging pointless insults, you may just end up dying right here and right now."_

_Jaime had not taken his eyes off Jon, just as Jon had not taken his hand off Longclaw's hilt. "What sort of way out?"_

_Jon spoke now, his voice calm, the rage in his eyes not evident in his tone. "Queen Daenerys means to take King's Landing without shedding innocent blood. But so long as your sister keeps herself locked away in the Red Keep, getting to her puts the people at considerable risk."_

_Jaime shrugged, "I never really cared much for any of them. Guilty _or_ innocent."_

"_Ah yes." Tyrion said. "You cared so little for them that you stabbed the Mad King in the back when he gave the order to 'burn them all.'"_

"_Oh please," said Jaime, rolling his eyes. "The mad king had just ordered me to bring him our father's head. What do you think he would have done to you and to Cersei? I was not going to let him. I chose to put family first. Saving the people just happened to be a bonus."_

_Tyrion sighed. "Fine. Lie to yourself if it makes you feel better. I know you better than anyone." he chuckled. "Well, I guess our sister knows you better. It just so happens that if you cooperate, you won't just be protecting the people of King's Landing, but your unborn son or daughter."_

_Jaime narrowed his eyes. "And what of Cersei?"_

_Jon spoke now. "She will be allowed to live long enough to give birth and care for the child until it can survive apart from her. After that she will be executed for all the pain and suffering she has caused, and the blood on her hands."_

"_And I'm supposed to just sit by and let her die?" Jamie sneered at Jon._

"_No, you idiot," Tyrion said. "You are supposed to take your place as lord of Casterly Rock, and warden of the West. You will be pardoned and will be free to raise your son or daughter in peace."_

_Jaime was shaking his head. "If Cersei dies, I will die clawing my way to your Dragon Queen, to choke the life out of her. I wonder how many I will take with me before I'm skewered by unsullied spears or burned to ash."_

_Tyrion turned to Jon. "Let me speak to my brother alone."_

_Jon eyed both of them with suspicion, but then nodded and left the tent. He had said what he had come to say._

"_Jaime," Tyrion began. "You have to cooperate. Otherwise, Daenerys will have you executed. Cersei made her choice when she ordered Missandei's death. She was given a chance to surrender peacefully. She refused, and so sealed her fate. Do you think the people are going to beg for mercy on her behalf? She's as much a tyrant as Joffrey was. Even if Queen Daenerys granted her mercy, it would only be a matter of time before someone has her killed, if they don't do it themselves."_

"_Is that what you really want?" Jaime asked._

"_No," Tyrion said after a brief pause. "As hateful as she has always been to me, and as much as I have hated her back, and have even thought about killing her myself, I find myself wishing that she might live. If only for the sake of you and her unborn child. But for what she has done, there will be no mercy from the Queen save a quick death."_

"_I'm sorry, brother," Jaime said. "But if I cannot have Cersei by my side, then I will find a way to join her in death. She is all that matters."_

"_And what of your son or daughter," Tyrion demanded. "You cannot honestly tell me that you don't care."_

_Jaime opened his mouth to tell his brother exactly that, but he couldn't speak the words. He did care. Seven Hells, he actually cared. "You're a clever man, brother. You'll figure something out."_

_Tyrion sighed. "I'm afraid I am not as clever as I like to believe."_

"_What is that supposed to mean," asked Jaime._

"_I fear Cersei is playing us both for fools. Look what she did after promising to commit troops to the battle against the Dead." Tyrion had started pacing. "I had thought that, for the sake of her unborn child, if not for anything else, she would do the right thing. But did she?"_

_Jaime was silent._

"Did_ she?" Tyrion demanded._

"_No," Jaime conceded._

"_And do you think she did the right thing, for the sake of her unborn child, when she was given the chance to put an end to this war, peacefully?"_

_Jaime's eye were squeezed shut. "No."_

_Tyrion shook his head. "No. Of course she didn't. She had Daenerys' closest friend executed right in front of her, guaranteeing that there would be Fire and Blood. Do you think for one moment she would have done such a thing had Myrcella, Tommen, or gods forbid even Joffrey were alive?"_

_Jaime's eyes snapped open. "What are you suggesting?"_

_Tyrion met his brother's gaze somberly. "I'm suggesting that there _is_ no unborn child."_

The sound of an explosion from the general direction of the main gate snapped Jaime back to the present. This meant that Daenerys had made her attack run on the Iron Fleet successfully and had just opened the City to her ground forces. There was no way that the Golden Company could withstand dragonfire and a full charge at the same time. Assuming that the Silver Queen would keep her word, he had a job to do, and this was the signal to get it done.

The throng had pushed inwards towards the Red Keep. And he had been fortunate to have been far enough along in the madness that he was able to get inside the grounds before the inner gates were closed, shutting thousands away from the sanctuary his sister had promised.

He shook his head sadly. Keeping promises was never one of her strong suits. Breaking them, on the other hand... She had mastered that talent in spades. Right up there with manipulating people.

With his mind fully focused on his mission, he pushed his way out of the crowd and made his way down an alleyway. His time in the Kingsguard had made him privy to pathways and passages that would allow quick and unimpeded movement throughout these walls. He used them now to bypass the crowd and made his way directly to the underpassages of the Red Keep itself.

What he discovered along the way made his blood boil. There were barrels upon barrels of wildfire stacked all about, and directly below ventshafts there were puddles of it with streamers reaching out to the barrels. All it would take would be a single torch dropped down one of these shafts, and it would all go up, and there would be nothing left of the Red Keep but a crater. Just like the Sept of Baelor.

So, this was Cersei's plan. It was so like her. She knew that Daenerys really had her backed into a corner. But that was when a lioness was most dangerous and unpredictable. She knew there was no way out for her. And unborn child or not, she would not let herself be taken alive, and it was just like her to take as many innocent lives with her.

"_Burn them all!"_

The words echoed over and over in his mind, as they had ever since the Mad King had uttered them. But now, he heard them spoken in his _sister's_ voice. But they went silent as he became aware of a sharp pressure against his lower back...


End file.
